Producer says the deejay has not recorded since incarceration

CURTIS CAMPBELL, STAR Writer

Dancehall producer Elvis Redwood has refuted allegations that Vybz Kartel has been recording from behind bars.

Since the artiste's incarceration in October last year, numerous exclusive materials have been released by local producers, the most recent being a collaboration with Busta Rhymes and a single called Back To Life.

According to Redwood, who is responsible for the production of Popcaan's Billboard hit single, Only Man She Want, Vybz Kartel has a lot of unreleased music which will be released over time.

"The Busta Rhymes collaboration with Vybz Kartel was recorded in 2010 by Don Corleon. It was a live recording on Ustream so they can check that. When artistes record songs they have to choose the right time to release them and Vybz Kartel has a lot of unreleased songs," he said.

The allegations have grown since the release of Back To Life, which is a song which speaks about the disadvantages of being incarcerated.

"Listen yu cyah get ... a prison, Stay far from war dat a coppa and lead, yu cyah get ... when yu dead, when the cage lock yu haffi thug it up, dem place ya dutty like rubbish truck, mi just a pree back happy days memories, wey mi kids, wey mi wife," are some of the lines in the song that has triggered the controversy.

Redwood disclosed that the Back To Life song was recorded in 2010 under Vybz Kartel's Adidjahiem Record label.

"Back To Life was recorded in 2010 under the title 'We Wah Guh Home', but it was never released. We changed the name, fix up some little things and just call it Back To Life - it's a prison song about his experience in jail, it was just another jail song. He has a lot of jail songs but because of the current situation people are making assumptions ... but we just want to make it clear that Vybz Kartel has not recorded any material since his incarceration. There are some songs on his Adidjahiem label that we will put out and this is one of them. Some of his unreleased songs are incomplete and we are making those into collaborations so they can be released. Various producers have unreleased songs from Vybz Kartel and I have a hard drive with a lot of unreleased material as well," Redwood said.

Elvis Redwood is currently gearing up to release part two of his internationally successful Lost Angel rhythm, which he says will feature the same list of artistes plus a surprise addition.